1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to piezoelectric material performance. More specifically, the invention is a system and method for monitoring piezoelectric material, such as the type used in actuators and sensors, in order to evaluate the piezoelectric material's performance capacity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Piezoelectric material-based sensors and actuators are used extensively in aircraft, spacecraft, and in a wide variety of other electromechanical applications to include automotive noise control, automotive airbag sensing circuitry, and traffic control sensing circuitry, just to name a few. In general, these are small actuators/sensors that are easily embedded in structures. Unfortunately, once embedded in structures, it is difficult to quickly and quantitatively ascertain the performance capacity of the actuator/sensor devices which may deteriorate over time due to changes in the piezoelectric material.